N.B. youth orchestra kicking off 2023 season
Show calendar begins in Tracadie and Bathurst
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The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra will kick off its 2023-24 concert season this weekend with shows in Bathurst and Tracadie.
The orchestra will perform Saturday at 7 p.m. at Théâtre J.-Armand Lavoie in Tracadie, followed by the Bathurst show Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Gwendolyn Kent Auditorium. Other performances this season will take place in Woodstock, Saint John, Fredericton, and Moncton.
Don Matheson, the orchestra’s community engagement director, said the group’s successful concert in New York City in June is expected to propel the orchestra to new heights this fall and winter.
“It doesn’t matter if you are a first-time concertgoer or a veteran of youth orchestra performances, I can promise everyone that they will be moved by the young musicians, amazed by their talent, and feel New Brunswick proud,” Matheson said in a release announcing the season-opening concerts.
The orchestra, conducted by Antonio Delgado, is funded by its board of directors and private, municipal, and provincial grants. Since 2009, the orchestra has also managed the Sistema New Brunswick music program, aimed at providing access to music education and the orchestra to children and youth who may not otherwise have the opportunity to take lessons.
Sistema operates nine centres, in Moncton, Saint John, Richibucto, Edmundston, Miramichi, Elsipogtog First Nation, and Fredericton. It recently expanded into Tracadie and the Chaleur region.
Since the performance on June 16 at Carnegie Hall, which received a standing ovation, the youth orchestra has recruited the largest ensemble since its inception in 1965, with more than 100 young musicians from across the province in this year’s lineup.
“We’re thrilled to bring the youth orchestra back to Tracadie for our premiere concert of the 2023-24 season,” said Matheson.
The Tracadie and Bathurst concerts will include renditions of Batuque “Danza di Negri,” Danzas del Ballet “La Estancia,” and Miramichi Ballad – A Suite for Orchestra and Symphony No. 9. The orchestra includes cellists Christina Campbell and Sharon Farua of Miramichi, along with Moncton’s Alexander Delgado, Charlotte Bagisetty, Isaí Parra-Pérez, Lina Khedhri, Maya Gariepy, Mayumi Jimenez, Perrine Traisnel, and Saraí Parra-Pérez.
On Violin I, the orchestra is made up of Alexandre Doucet of Bouctouche, Daniel Zhang of Fredericton, Heather Meisner of Quispamsis, Iris Li and Skylar Brigley-Byers of Saint John, Viacheslav Karzov of Pocologan, and Moncton’s Amine Kahlaoui, Ben Lewis, Emilie Duncan, Emma Boudreau, Emma Bourdon, Emma Misener, Garance Ramade, Maya Hubert, Monika Brudkowski, and Rilès-Rémi Ould-Kaci.
Musicians playing Violin II include Alexander Arnold and Daniela Vivas of Fredericton, Alex Zhang of Quispamsis, Charlotte Lane and John Shi of Saint John, Onika Gourdine and Teryn Maltby of Miramichi, Venya Nandakumar of Riverview, and Moncton’s Ella Nguyen, Izabel Brudkowski, Maya Guzman, Sebastien Lavoie, Shiwoo Lee, and Tashel Wagaarachchi.
On the viola are Berthley Assong of Edmundston, Cheyenne Jones of Miramichi, Emmett Flores and Sidney Murgatroyd of Fredericton, Haley McKitrick of Richibucto, and Moncton musicians Ella Umbay, Erica Fisher, Jada Belanger, and Patryk Brudkowski.
We're thrilled to bring the youth orchestra back to Tracadie for our premiere concert of the 2023-24 season
Don Matheson
Double bass players are Benaura Freeman and Lillian Connell-Britt of Saint John, Lucas Hartmann of Aldouane, Xavier Belanger of Edmundston, and Elise Ould-Kaci and Owen Boudreau of Moncton. Samuel Fong of Riverview and Moncton’s Bark-Wende Simon, Catherine Viger, Gracie Lewis, Jada Nguyen, and Zion De Joya are the orchestra’s flutists. Fong also plays the piano.
Evan Hyde and Mya MacDonald of Saint John, Sarah Perrault of Cole Harbour, N.S., and Moncton’s Marc Gauvin, René Levesque, and Zoe De Joya are the oboists. On the clarinet are Fardad Yamani Doozi Sorkhabi and Shinie Wagaarachchi of Moncton, Scott McKitrick of Richibucto, and Liam Addis and Kalvin Rowe of Saint John.
Bassoonists include Dimitrius Pellerin of Notre-Dame, Lilia Kikuchi of Saint John, Yaron Felter-Gonen of Dieppe, and Leo Cain, Noah Fisher, and Rémi Chan Tang of Moncton. The French horn players are Saint John’s Alex Murphy, Lessa Thornton, Liam Daley, Oriana Luc, and Yeva Sibriyakova, along with Moncton’s Avery Hubert and Raina Chevarie Munroe. On the trumpet are Alexis McInnis, Elijah Gillard, and Emma Bocklandt of Moncton, Kaima Eurokwu of Saint John, and Matthew Mulvihill of Albert Bridge, N.S.
Amy Robichaud and Selena Tenass of Moncton, Rowan Blanch of Upper Nappan, N.S., Kingston Beckett of Saint John, and Destiny Fry of Baie Verte make up the orchestra’s trombone players. Aaron Phi, Ben Carter, Collin Mclenaghan, Conrad Kelly, and Owen Melanson of Moncton account for the percussion section. Erica Fisher of Moncton serves as orchestra manager.
Tickets for the Tracadie and Bathurst performances can be purchased online at nbyotickets.com.
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